The Gender Affairs Unit, Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development and the Royal Anguilla Police Force (RAPF) is proud to announce a one-week training to be held in Anguilla by United Nations Women (UNWomen). Training will run from Monday, 17th October until Friday, 21st October and is geared toward Parliamentarians, Civil Society Organisations, Government Gender Focal Points, the Departments of Social Development and Probation, and the Royal Anguilla Police Force.
Various sessions will focus on three (3) salient topics: 1) The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as it relates to Anguilla; 2) Next steps in implementing the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and 3) “Turning Legislation into Action: Implementing the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) into Practice.” UNWomen facilitators include Gabrielle Henderson, Programme Specialist for Gender Based-Violence (GBV) and CEDAW, Kemberley Gittens, Parliamentarian Trainer and Toolkit Developer, and Jacqueline Sealy-Burke of the University of the West Indies Legal Aid and Counseling Clinic.
Global efforts toward national development via gender mainstreaming have long been advanced by the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and various international professional bodies. Regionally, the efforts of CARICOM, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Caribbean Women’s Association (CARIWA) and the Caribbean Development Bank have advanced gender affairs. And of course locally, here in Anguilla, Gender Affairs initiatives have progressed full force with the implementation of Women’s and Men’s Week, The 16 Days of Activism, and a Governor’s Office sponsored Gender Equality Mainstreaming Sensitivity (GEMS) Training.
With the recent extension of CEDAW to Anguilla in March 2016, there is an increased focus on the importance of Parliamentarians and Civil Society members’ knowledge about how to progress on eliminating discrimination on the island and how these efforts can be measured for national growth and international reporting.
Similarly, since the passage of Anguilla’s first DV Act in November 2015, the Ministry of Social Development, RAPF and Gender Affairs Unit, among numerous other stakeholders, have considered the best ways to turn the “Act into Action” noting that it is pertinent for first responders to be better equipped to assist and prevent instances of domestic violence and gender-based violence in Anguilla. The current UNWomen training will add to the previous workshops that have taken place and will also strengthen the ability for the RAPF to utilize their GBV Pocketguide book and internal “Domestic Violence Fact Sheet” for officers.
Parliamentarian training will take place on Monday, 17th October from 2:00 – 4:00 pm at the House of Assembly and focus on the intersectionalities of local gender affairs development, national development and international progress. On Tuesday, 18th and Wednesday, 19th October from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm at the Anguilla Football Association Conference Room, Gender Focal Points and Civil Society Organisations will place emphasis on integrating the UN SDGs and efforts to advance CEDAW into their daily work. The RAPF and Departments of Social Development and Probation will convene on Thursday, 20th and Friday, 21st October at the same time and location to intensely review the DV Act and continue implementing its provisions.
Dr. Ronya Foy Connor, Gender Development Coordinator noted, “the Gender Affairs Unit is working diligently to educate civil servants and the general public about gender equality and how gender is linked to the development and financial well-being of our nation. With vital training workshops such as this one, gender awareness will continue to increase among community members and throughout our government entities. We must create opportunities for each of us to promote gender equity and human rights in our respective spheres of influence.”
The workshop organizing team consists of Gender Development Coordinator Dr. Ronya Foy Connor, Permanent Secretary Dr. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, Social Development Planner Mrs. Kiesha Gumbs-Bibby and RAPF Inspector Chrispen Gumbs. For more information about the UN Women workshops, please contact the Ministry of Home Affairs at 497-2518 or email Ronya.Foy-Connor@gov.ai.
– Press Release
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
